Black-Eyed Susans in Snow

Under layers of snow, Black-eyed Susan heads bristle with their stiff seeds. The butterfly garden was quickly tucked to bed by doing nothing — leaving the leaves and letting the flowers stand. In doing nothing, tiny creatures made their living. We made a future of tomorrow by resting.

The traditional way of gardening leaves the land clean and sterile during the winter, but the newer movement to “leave the leaves” aims at increasing biodiversity effortlessly. Like so many things, what we believe was the “right” way to do things is often the complete opposite of that. Nothing is black and white.

I only used black and white and the occasional mix of the two to get the gradations needed for the subject matter to appear under the palette knife. 

2023, acrylic on board, 11”wide x 14” high